Animal production systems of small farms in the Ka

Authors: Laurel Redding Dipesh Kumar Chetri Dirga Kumar Lamichhane Yoon Chay Lauren Aldinger James Ferguson

Publish Date: 2012/03/06

Volume: 44, Issue: 7, Pages: 1605-1613

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe animal production on small farms in the Kaski district of Nepal with the goal of identifying areas where animal health and productivity could be improved Eightyfive randomly selected farms from four different Village Development Committees were visited Farmers were interviewed and premises and animals visually inspected on all farms Feed samples were collected from a subset of farms The most commonly kept species were water buffalo used for milk and meat cattle used for milk and labor and goats used for meat Average milk production levels were 47 kg/day for water buffalo and 19 kg/day for cattle All animals were milked manually no calves were weaned and only one farm practiced artificial insemination A majority of cattle and goats had access to pasture and a majority of farms fed their working or producing animals concentrates however nutritional input was insufficient in terms of energy protein and micronutrient content to increase levels of production Goatraising was the most profitable endeavor followed by water buffalo and cattle We conclude that animals have the potential to contribute significantly to improved livelihoods of farmers in terms of both income generation and nontangible benefits However we found that significant constraints on animal production exist including insufficient nutritional levels and a lack of preventative care resulting in animal disease Furthermore cultural considerations reflecting attitudes toward cattle shape farming in ways that may limit production Nevertheless targeted interventions that improve animal health and productivity are possible without being cost prohibitive

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